Note: This writeup was developed from notes that the author took while programming Scom 5K, 6K and 7K controllers - but this technique works with any brand of controller that understands DTMF.   All references to the 7K in the text below apply equally well to the 5K and 6K (with the understanding that the 5K and 6K have fewer ports and different pinouts - see this Scom pinout page).   Care was taken while generating this web page to make it "generic" - there is nothing in this writeup that precludes the ideas and principles displayed here from being used on any controller that expects to see it's programming come in via a radio port or an autopatch port... i.e. Link, ACC, etc.   So those that don't have an Scom controller will still consider this article of value.   In other words, all references to Scom while automating the DTMF uploading apply to all controllers as long as the controller-specific details are handled.

Note:If you decide to print this file to three-hole punch it and put in your controller manual's binder make sure that the schematic diagrams come out in a monospaced font (like Courier) if you want to see them properly.   I used an exclamation point as a vertical line since the actual vertical line character (upper-case backslash on many keyboards) is one of the first ones replaced by a local language character in non-USA keyboards and I wanted to make this file as international-compatible as possible.

The topic of directly connecting a computer to a controller (also known as local programming) seems to come up on the Scom mailing list (SCOM-Controllers at yahoogroups) between three and five times a year, so one night in July 2002 I created this web page that contains everything that I keep posting or emailing directly.   Now I can just point the new folks at it !

When the Scom 7K was designed in the 1980s the fact that there was no serial port on the back of it was not seen as a shortcoming.   The home PC was not as common as it is today (the IBM PC wasn't introduced until late 1981), and besides embedded serial ports were expensive in hardware cost, in programming effort, and in firmware (program) space.   The microprocessor that runs the 7K is completely parallel I/O oriented - when it was designed there was no member of the processor family with an on-chip serial port.   As a result, the 7K has no "inputs" except the touchtone decoder and the digital logic inputs, and no "outputs" except the tone generator (i.e. beeps, boops, and CW), the logic outputs, the the optional display panel and the optional speech synthesizer (which is also a parallel device).   The only "path" for programming to get into the 7Ks memory is through the touchtone decoder - either via a radio port or the autopatch port.   And it's actually easier to use one of the radio ports instead of the autopatch port (Why is that?   First of all, not every 7K has the autopatch board.   Second, the default programming has the controller ignore the autopatch port until it sees a ring signal (i.e. the phone line rings).   Third, it's not that hard to connect to a radio port.)

There is no practical way to add a serial port to the Scom 7K.   The design is essentially not expandable.   Yes, technically you could remove the CPU chip and install a daughter board containing a replacement CPU plus the hardware to implement a serial port, but that would buy you nothing.   The designer tells me that the firmware code occupies all but a few bytes of the available program memory... there's no room to add any code to drive a serial port without sacrificing functionality elsewhere.

In summary, from today's point of view one would think that the apparent Scom 7K design shortcoming makes programming more difficult that it needs to be.   The Scom Programmer software utility does a lot to make up for that fact.   I heartily recommend that anybody with a 7K buy a copy - after a few days of use you will kick yourself for not getting it at the same time you bought the 7K.

Basically you start with a virgin 7K (i.e. open the case and hold down the internal reset button on the CPU board while you turn the power on) and upload the operating parameters through a PC running the Programmer software, and if later changes are needed you make them in the PC and upload again.   As long as you make all changes on the PC and upload them to the Scom the lack of a download feature is not critical (just remember to take good notes on all over-the-air DTMF programming and update the Programmer files).   The end result is that the Programmer Software removes the frustration of not being able to see what is in the controller - because on the Programmer screen and your Programmer printouts you have a precise record of everything in the 7Ks memory (because it went through the Programmer to get there).

When I program one of several Scom controllers that I take care of either on the bench or at a radio site I use a laptop computer along with a old Hayes external modem (only because the PCMCIA modem card that came with the laptop has a design glitch - not all do - more on that later).   At the site I set up a $2 thrift-store card table (that I bought just for the site and keep at the site) and a folding chair, then I power up the laptop and connect the external modem.   While the laptop is booting I connect the controller with a common 4-conductor RJ-11 cord that plugs into an RJ-11 jack that I've permanently wired to a receiver port in the controller (schematic diagram below).   I just make sure that I power off anything normally connected to the receiver port before I jack into it.   At the one site where there is no actual device hooked to the control RX port (yet!) the controller is still programmed to accept command codes on that port to allow local programming from the laptop.

Note that the data side of the modem is totally unused - the Scom Programmer software does all the controller programming just like you would do if you were pressing lots of DTMF pad keys on a handheld very quickly and without errors - like an Energizer bunny - it just dials and dials and dials... (note that setting the S11 register in the modem to a value of 50 to 60 will speed up the upload a lot).   Remember this: when programming a controller an old slow modem is NOT a disadvantage - it is used only as a serially controlled touchtone generator.   You can usually find the old Hayes or Practical Peripherals 300, 1200 or 2400 externals at the swap meets for $5 or less.   Make sure you get the proper wall wart / power pack with it - most used a funny 3-pin connector, and different models used different voltages.

The existing Scom Programmer (ver 1.<anything>) is compatible with all Windows versions including Windows 3.11, and that compatibility limits the total size of the program and it's data to 64 KB of RAM.   This limitation affects both the total code size (the programmer itself) and the data size (i.e. the size of the programming file that is sent to the 7K).   Upcoming versions will drop support for Windows 3.11 (i.e. require Windows 9x, NT, 2000 or XP) and that 64 KB restriction will be lifted.

Once I had the 7K programmer software in hand I printed out the sample files that come with it and spent a few evenings taking apart and understanding exactly what the author was doing, line by line.   I then had a few emailed discussions with the author about a few topics that had come up and I started realizing that the lack of a serial port and not being able to download the code from the 7K memory was not that big a deal.   From then on every change that went into my 7K's memory went through the programmer software, so I had a copy of it on my desktop at home.   And before any hill trip I made sure that the files specific to that site were current on the laptop.

Hint: To get the most functionality from the Scom Programmer software you need to make heavy use of the named constants file (the NCF) - define everything you can in it (any constant value), and then break apart your programming into separate program files for:

1. The base programming - the timeout timers, IDers, etc. plus any "subroutine" macros like a function complete.
2. The macro definitions - the user commands, etc. Try and have these call subroutine macros.
3. The autopatch programming - everything but the actual autodial / speed-dial codes / macros.
4. The autopatch speed dial numbers (yes, in a separate file. This way changing one users autodial home phone number does not require reloading the entire controller).
5. The remote base programming
6. The named constants file itself

The operation of the Scom Programmer is such that the NCF itself is never loaded into the controller itself.   The Programmer examines each line as it is read from the data file and looks for Named Constants and replaces them with the constant's definition / value from the NCF, and does it on the fly, line by line.   By dividing the overall programming of the controller into logical sections (similar to what is listed above) you can keep each code file small.   You will find that usually you only have to modify one program file and maybe the NCF then reload the program file.   As I mentioned above I have all the autopatch autodial numbers in one file, and changing a number means that I only have to upload one file - not the whole controller.

Whe I first got the Scom Programmer software I created a single super-sized programming file for our UHF repeater / autopatch / remote base / NOAA weather RX).   Before I got the hang of breaking apart the monster and using the NCF I was tempted to add a reset button and power switch to the front of the 7K - I was having to reset and reload the 7K frequently during the progamming / debugging phase.   Now when the programming of my 7K seems to screw up, I just look at the screen (or a printout next to the controller manual) and play with the test bed 7K and figure it out.   Then I fix the programming and overload the bad programming.   Only twice in the last 10 months or so have I had to do a cold start (i.e. wipe everything and reload from scratch) - one was a macro loop that I could have gotten out of (yes, there is a way to do it) but it was easier to cold start.   A full reload of the entire controller - all of my files - takes less than three minutes with S11 set to maximum speed (which you can only do on a direct RJ-11 cable connection).

For a local programming direct connection you can do one of two things:

1. Wire a DB-25 to RJ-11 adapter appropriately, perhaps with the COR / PL switch mounted into the adapter shell (side wall or top cover). More on this below.
   
   
2. Wire an RJ-11 jack in parallel with whatever you have attached to any of your controller's receiver ports (I use RX3), and remember to power off whatever is on that port before you start programming - you don't want somebody keying up on that frequency and confusing the upload process.
   
   
3. Wire a 3 pole double throw (perhaps with a center off if you want) switch onto the receiver port (i.e. into the repeater cabinet wiring harness) and select either the normal device or the RJ-11 connector.   A center-off switch is not required but allows you to select a "receiver offline" mode without powering off anything.

Note:All of the 7K installations that I work on use low-going (i.e. active low, ground when active, pick your term) COR, PL decode and PTT signals. In the schematics below I show a switch that grounds the COR and PL decode pins. If your system uses active high signals you will need to wire your switch to a source of + voltage through a 4.7k or 10k resistor rather than to ground.

The common "RJ-11" telephone line connector is really a 6-pin connector, with the most common implementation (a single line phone) using the center 2 pins.   The pins are numbered 1-6, with 1 and 6 (the outermost pair) used only with a 6-conductor implementation, and pins 3 and 4 as the center two pins that are normally the phone line red and green (or white-with-blue-tracer and blue-with-white-tracer) wires.   The common residential phone line in the USA is a balanced pair, both sides isolated from ground, and if you exchange them it won't matter.

The circuit below can be wired into a DB-25 to RJ-11 adapter with the COR / PL switch mounted into the adapter shell (side wall or top cover).   The trimpot shown in the diagram below may not be needed... it depends on the audio level coming out of the modem, and the input audio level of your controller (i.e. how sensitive you set it).   A trimpot will fit inside most shells and once set can be ignored (or you can drill a hole so that a small screwdriver can be used to adjust it). Follow the book on setting the Scom audio trimpots for your repeater environment, then set the trimpot in the schematic below to match that level. On one of the systems I helped set up the RX3 port wasn't being used, and in that case we left the port active in the programming and we set the Scom RX3 pot to match the modem.

+-+ +---+ !1! ! ! 1K trimpot (optional, see text) !2!-- black ! / !3!-- green -----------------+ \<--- to 7K receiver audio in (pin number varies with !4!-- red --------+----------+ / which receiver port - see table below) !5!-- yellow ! ! ! !6! ! +---+---- to 7K ground (pin 19) +-+ ! ! ! +------ 7K receiver PL decode in (pin number varies) ! ! / ! (assumes active low CTCSS decode input) ! ! / ! RJ-11 jack +---O O---+------ 7K receiver COR in (pin number varies) for cable to ! (assumes active low COR input) modem's ! "line" jack ! ! ! =============== ! ========== Everything below this point is optional ========= ! ! --+ +------------------- shield / shell / shank ! ! 1/8" headphone jack +------------------- ring contact ! ! ! (see text) ! +------------- tip contact ! ! ! --+ ! ! ! +------------- to 7K TX1 audio out (Pin 14) ! +------------------- to 7K TX2 audio out (Pin 15) (TX2 isn't really needed, but I didn't have a mono jack in the junkbox, and this lets me use a set of common amplified PC speakers to monitor both transmit ports of the controller) +-------Red LED--------- to 7K TX1 PTT (pin 10) ! ! +----Red LED--------- to 7K TX2 PTT (pin 11) ! ! ! +---/\/\/\/\/-----+ ! ! ! ! +------/\/\/\/\/-----+--< hot side of 7K style power input connector ! ! +------/\/\/\/\/-----+--> to hot side of power out cord (plugs into ! the power jack on the back of the 7K) ! +------Green LED-------- to 7K GND

I mounted an 1.8" earphone jack into the side of the DB25 connector shell and connected the tip lead to the TX1 audio.   TX2 is monitored only because the junkbox had a stereo jack and adding an extra piece of wire to the second audio channel pin was easy.   A cheap PC-style amplified dual speaker set plugs into the headphone jack and lets me monitor both TX audio channels without requiring an operational repeater and a handheld.

To extend the concept of monitoring the 7K TX audio, I drilled the front panel of my spare 7K that lives in my programming test-bed (i.e. the garage repeater) and mounted an 1/8" jack there as well.   I connected the left channel to TX1 audio and the right chanel to TX2 audio right from the back side of the DB25 in the 7K.   A better way is to tap onto the high side of the level set pots through isolation resistors.

add these two resistors and 10uf 25v an earphone jack +!! ---------+ <----------\/\/\/\/\/\---------+---!!---- to earphone jack tip or ring ! 4.7, 10k or 15k ! !! / 1/10, 1/8 or 1/4 watt ! \ ! / / adjust this resistor \<-------- \ value for a comfortable / / level in your speakers... \ TX level set pot in 7K \ between 4.7k and 22k, 1/8 or 1/4 w... / TX1 = R104 / or maybe just leave it out... \ TX2 = R105 \ depends on how sensitive the / (both are next to U35) / amplifier in your speakers is. ! ! ! +------ to earphone jack shank ! ! gnd gnd

Back to the test/programming adapter....Hanging from my DB25 shell are two pigtails - one with a male and one with a female power jack identical to that on the 7K (I took a Radio Shack power extension cord and cut it in half).   If I need to program a 7K that does not have one of my RJ-11s hard-wired into the cabinet wiring I just unplug the cable from J2, plug in my adapter, unplug the power cord going into the 7K and plug it into my adapter (to provide the +12 for the LEDs), and plug the pigtail into the 7K power jack.   As to the LEDs themselves, I used the smallest diameter 2ma LEDs I could find.   As to the LED resistors, the rule of thumb is 500 ohms per volt, and I used 5.6k 1/4watt resistors.   You will probably find that 10ma LEDs are more common, and for them 100 ohms per volt is the rule, which works out to 1.2k on 12 to 13 volts DC.

The diagram below shows how you can make the programming jack permanent.   The RJ jack and a 3PDT changeover switch can be grafted into the repeater cabinet system wiring.   If you mount a RJ-11 baseboard jack into your system cabinet, well, I've seen baseboard mount RJ-11s whose housings are large enough to mount the switch into...   Mine are cabled into RX3's wiring so I can make a programming change via RX3, then depending on which part of the controllers behavior I've just changed I can use a handheld on the main repeater channel (RX1) or the remote base (RX2) channel to test the change immediately.

RJ-11 jack for cable to modem "line" jack ! +-- To your RXn audio output (what would normally ! ! connect to the 7K RX audio in...) +-+ ! !1! +--O !2!-- yellow > <----O--to 7K RXn audio in !3!-- green ----------(**)-O !4!-- red ----------+ !5!-- black ! !6! ! +-- To your RXn COR output (what would normally +-+ ! ! connect to the 7K COR in...) ! ! ! +----O ! > <----O--to 7K COR in (assumes active low) +-------O ! ! +-- To your RXn PL decoder output ! ! ! +---O ! > <----O--to 7K PL decode in (assumes active low) ! +---O ! ! +---+----------------- 7K ground

Scom 7K J2 (female DB-25 connector) Pinout Function RX1 RX2 Rx3 Audio In 1 8 25 COR 2 3 4 PL decode 5 6 7 Common Ground 19, 20, 21, 22

The (**) in the diagram above is where you would insert the 1K trimpot shown in the first schematic, if it's needed.

The above diagram is drawn so that when the three-pole double throw changeover switch is in the up position the system is normal, the center position has the 7K port idled, and the down position switches the 7K audio input to the modem and simulates both COR and PL decode active.   Naturally when you mount the switch, you would want to mount it upside down from the drawing so that "down" is repeater normal.   If your junkbox yields a switch with a fourth pole, you can use it to light a red LED mounted next to the switch signfying "not normal" or "programming mode". One of my friends junkbox had a LED with a built-in flasher/blinker so his system has a blinking LED...

Automatic COR and PL Decode signal control:
Some of the external modems had an extra pole of the off-hook relay connected to pins 2 and 5 of the RJ-11 connector (enabled by the ATJ1 command).   This relay function was used to support the older multiline phone systems of the day that shorted those two pins to mark the phone line as off hook (these were the "1A2" 5, 9 and 19 line phones with the fat cables that had the 50-pin / 25-pair Amphenol connectors).   If you can locate an older external modem - one that has this relay (the Hayes 1200 and 2400 were two) - then you can use the full diagram below as your wiring.   When the modem goes offhook the controller automatically sees both COR and PL.

If you feel like it you could also open up any old modem and add a reed relay into it - just wire the coil of the new relay in parallel with the coil of the existing relay, and the contacts across the extra RJ pins.   Or if you get lucky, you might find a spare set of contacts on the existing relay - I have.   I've also found a two-pole relay with one pole in series with each side of the phone line.   They can be rewired with a couple of etch cuts and jumpers so that one pole is on the phone line and the second pole is on the RJ-11 pins 2 and 5.

By the way, if your RJ-11 jack has the alternate color code that has the red and green wires shown below actually as a white wire with a blue tracer and a blue wire with a white tracer then you will find the yellow and black wires will be a white wire with an orange tracer and an orange wire with a white tracer.   If it's there the third pair will be a white-green and green-white combination.

RJ-11 jack for cable to modem "line" jack ! +-- To your RXn COR output ! ! +-+ +---O !1! > <----O--to 7K COR input !2!--- yellow ---------------------+---------O (assumes active low) !3!--- green -------------------+ ! !4!--- red -------------------+ ! ! !5!--- black ---------------+ ! ! ! +-- To your RXn PL decoder output !6! ! ! ! ! ! +-+ ! ! ! ! +---O ! ! ! ! > <----O--to 7K CTCSS decode input ! ! ! +---------O (assumes active low) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! +-- To your RXn audio output ! ! ! ! ! ! ! +---O ! ! ! > <----O--to 7K RX audio input ! ! +---(**) ----O ! ! +-+---------------------- to 7k ground

The (**) in the diagram above is where you would insert the 1K trimpot shown in the first schematic, if it's needed.

As in the previous diagram, the changeover switch in the up position is normal, the center position has the 7K port idled, and the down position allows both COR and PL decode to look active when the modem goes offhook.   Center-off is optional, I used center-off switches because I had them in the junk box, and I'm glad I did: it gives me an easy way to disable the controller port.

Over the air:
You can also program over the air with the modem operating as a touchtone generator.   Instead of cabling the modem audio to a RX port on the controller, just cable the center two pins of the RJ-11 to the transmitter audio input (through an audio transformer if you need isolation and through a pot for audio level control if you need it).   You can use a toggle switch for PTT... or...

Automatic PTT: You can also use the extra relay in the early Hayes to handle PTT if you want by connecting the the yellow and black wires of the RJ-11 jack to the PTT function.   Or as I mentioned above, add a extra relay.   It's worth doing as the programmer will automatically drop PTT at the end of transmitting the file - you can start a programming session and go get a cuppa soup or coffee knowing that your transmitter won't have a meltdown if you don't get back in time.

Automatic ID: One handy feature that old the Hayes 1200 external has that nothing else ever had or has now... it can ID your transmitter in true MCW automatically.   They dropped that feature in the later Hayes 2400 model.   I first heard about that feature in the non-fiction book "The Cuckoo's Egg", written by Clifford Stoll, K7TA - it's quite a tale and really worth finding in a used bookstore.   There was also a "Nova" PBS-TV episode about it - if you see it scheduled it's worth setting your VCR to tape it, if for nothing else than the shots of manually tracing a phone call through the old Siemens step-by-step central office with the glass-encased Strowger switches (mechanical stepper switches that operated in two dimensions).   But, back on topic, you will have to find a Hayes 1200 book to look up the ATDM codes to send the MCW.   Then in the Scom Programmer put a string defining your callsign in the "init" and "exit" sections of the modem codes and your programming session can ID at the beginning and the end.   Don't worry about any string length limitations on the "init" and "exit" strings - they are stored in the .INI file and they have no real maximum length - they are limited only by the size of your hard disk.

Comments on modems:

The Hayes 300s, 1200s and 2400 modems are old enough that the electrolytics have probably dried out.   If you pick up one that has not been powered up in a while it would be worth plugging the wall wart power pack into a Variac and ramping the AC voltage up from zero to the line voltage at 10-20 volts per hour.   You may still have to replace a bunch of old filter caps inside the modem.

You will want to check the S6 setting in your modem - it's the one that controls how long the modem waits for dial tone before it gives up and blindly dials.   If it's set too long you could have a situation where the modem is waiting forever for dial tone before sending touchtone.   As far as I know there is no standard default setting for S6.   You may need to reset S6 and then do a AT&W to write the setting into the modem.   Or do an AT&F and an AT&W when you first get the modem to set it back to factory defaults.

I've not seen a modem yet that absolutley has to have dial tone before it will send touchtone - that just plain violates the smartmodem specification (which is an EIA standard!).   But that doesn't mean that a offbrand modem design might not be out there.

I thought at first I had that situation when I was handed a Compaq 266mhz laptop with a Megahertz brand PCMCIA card modem at a previous job (3Com later bought Megahertz).   (Am I dating myself? A P2-266 was current technology then)   It turned out later on that particular modem design simply uses the phone line voltage to power the analog side of the modem, and just wouldn't work unless there was DC voltage there.   It makes perfect sense in the normal world, and allows a modem design that uses less power from the laptop battery... it just won't work in the Scom universe, so when using that laptop I'm forced to use an external modem to program a controller. And don't assume that only the PCMCIA modems do that power saving trick, the same chipsets are used in a wide variety of internal and external modems.

An easy way to test if your modem needs an external voltage source is to simply take an RJ-11 cord, and hook a PC amplified speaker to the red and green wires.   Start up your modem program and type ATDT1234567890 and then press the enter key.   The modem should take the phone off hook and dial ten digits and be audible in the PC speaker.

If you really have to use that type of a modem you will have to fake the DC voltage to it.   All it takes is a hum-free DC voltage source, a resistor and a capacitor.

Build the circuit below.   To test, plug a regular touchtone telephone (an ITT, GTE or Western Electric from the 80s or 90s - one that has a transistor-and-toroidal-coil-based touchtone dial) to the left side jack in the diagram.   Listen if you hear touchtone in the earpiece of the phone when you press a button on the dial (some really old dials were polarity sensitive - if you get just a click try swapping the two wires to the phone).   A 9v battery is convenient for testing the circuit, but may only last short time of serious controller programming.   A 10v to 15vDC wall wart with an extra filter capacitor or two across it's output may be more appropriate on a long term basis.   The goal is sufficient DC voltage to push about 15-20ma through the phone / modem without audio distortion.

In short if an old ITT or GTE or Western Electric phone (something with a toroid-based touchtone pad) plugged into the modem jack works, then any PCMCIA or desktop modem should work.

RJ-11 jack for cable to modem "line" jack ! +-+ !1! 10 to 50uf !2!-- yellow ! ! !3!-- green ------+-------! !------------ 7K RX audio in !4!-- red ---+ ! + ! ! - !5!-- black ! ! !6! ! \ +-+ ! / 470 ohm to 1K - adjust ! \ the value for 15-20maDC ! / (no more than 30!) ! \ through the phone ! / or modem ! \ ! ! + - ! +-- battery -+ ! or DC supply ! ! ! +----+------------+-------- gnd ! ! / ! / +----------O O--+---- 7K RX COR in ! (assumes active low) ! +---- 7K RX PL decode in (assumes active low)

The coupling capacitor may not be necessary if there is one inside your controller (the Scom has it).   Don't use a tantalum cap in an audio coupling circuit. They are great as a filter cap but when used as a coupling cap can do funny things to the audio.

In place of the resistor you can also use a inductor - even a random 600ohm to 2K ohm transformer winding.

A better circuit uses a transformer designed such that it doesn't saturate with DC current - this type of transformer can be hard to find which is why I had to come up with the above circuit - I had to program a controller with my work laptop at a friend's house on zero notice - so I dug through his junk box and found a resistor, a coupling cap and a battery clip.   My Fluke DVM temporarily donated the 9v battery.

The transformer in the circuit below can be either a dual 150 ohm primary winding and a single 600 ohm secondary, or a dual 150 ohm to dual 150 ohm (with the secondaries wired in series).   I've used three different types - the first was scavenged from an old Moto DC wireline control card from a Micor base station line card, the second one came from from an old T-1200 series DC wireline control console and the third came from a old tube-type base station DC wireline chassis.

RJ-11 jack for cable to modem "line" jack ! +-+ !1! !2!-- yellow !3!-- green --------------------+ +------------- To 7K RX audio in !4!-- red ---+ ! ! !5!-- black ! ) !! ( !6! ! ) !! ( +-+ ! ) !! ( ! 680 ohms ) !! ( ! to 1.2k ! !! ! ! +--/\/\/\/\/---+ !! +----+ ! ! !! ! ! ! !! ! ! +-- + - ------+ !! +----+-------- Hook controller audio in to here ! 9 to 12v ! !! ! if the RX audio level is too high. ! battery ) !! ( If it's still too high then you will ! or a well ) !! ( need to insert the 1K trimpot shown ! filtered wall ) !! ( in the first schematic here. ! wart DC power ) !! ( ! source ! ! ! ! ! +------------------+ +------------- gnd ! ! / ! / +--O O--+---- 7K RX COR in ! (assumes active low) ! +---- 7K RX PL decode in (assumes active low)

Adjust the resistor and the DC voltage to push about 15-20ma through the transformer winding and the phone / modem without audio distortion.   Larger core transformers will start to distort at higher current settings.   If you have excessive audio level use the alternate audio output as marked on the schematic above, or add the 1K trimpot.

If your modem has the extra relay contacts mentioned above you can replace the switch with wiring to the yellow and black leads (or the white wire with an orange tracer and an orange wire with a white tracer) on the RJ-11.

Comments on the Scom Programmer...
First, if you don't have it, and you own a 5K, 6K or 7K or are involved with maintaining one, get it.   See the sales pitch web page at http://www.scomcontrollers.com/scompgmr/scompgmr.html for the details.   The current version as of this writing is 1.2.3 and if you have anything older it's really worth updating - and the update price is right at only US$15 dollars.

The Scom Programmer software has a "Site" and a "Modem" selection on the "Settings" menu.   There are separate custom initialization strings that can be sent to a Dialup Modem and a Direct Modem... they are there for a reason - in my case I have the Direct Modem setting send S11=60 to speed up the programming but you could use it to set S6 as well...   You could also have a "Site 1 local" entry, a "Site 1 dialup" entry, and a "Site 1 RF" entry, with different settings for each.

Good starting settings are:

• Add M2L3 in Init #1 to turn the speaker on and then adjust the L number from 1-3 to set the volume to your comfort. Some cheaper modems only allow zero (Off) and one (On) in the M and L commands.
• On a direct connection (a wire) add S11=50 in Init #2 to speed up the DTMF as fast as the 7K will take it.
• On a modem connection (a dialup to the 7K autopatch port) add S11=70 in Init #2 to speed up the DTMF as fast as the 7K will take it.   Shorten it until the link starts to error, then lengthen it 10% to 15%.
• On a radio link set S11 to a slower number - maybe 85 or so.   Shorten it until the radio link starts to error, then lengthen it 10% to 15%.
• Use the Exit setting to put the DTMF speed back to the speed your local phone company likes.   My desktop USR modem factory defaults to 70, my local Pacific Bell central office starts to misdial at 49 or 50, I use 55 at home, your milage may vary.
• Start with Max Dial String set to 32.   When I get a new modem I just keep raising it until it fails/errors/drops digits, then back off.
• In the beginning of the 7K repeater programming file set the OK message to a single or a double boop.   I use 45ms of 900hz followed by 40ms of silence followed by 45ms of 900hz - this fast double beep speeds up the uploading.   At the end of the file I set it again to what will actually be used in normal repeat operation.   The quick boop-boop at the end of each upload string tells me "so far, so good", and then when I hear it change to the beep that we use on the air I know that the upload is almost done...
• If you have call waiting make sure you set the *70, (or 1170,) as part of the landline dialing string

It's a good idea to program all init string commands in the Scom dialer using all upper case alphabetics as some old offbrand modems didn't understand lower case (no, I'm not kidding).   As easy as it is to hit the CAPS LOCK key and type all upper case the one time you set up the strings, why ask for future problems?

Finally, Good luck and after you get it working please drop me an email and let me know how things went.   I've spent a lot of time on this web page, and sometimes I'm wondering if anybody reads these missives to the masses...

Back to the top of the page
Back to the Scom index
Back to the Tech Info index
Back to Home

This web page created July 2003

If you see something above that is vague, missing (or outright wrong), please let me know!   It's input from the readers that make these writeups better - I've probably either totally missed or shortchanged topics and /or subtopics that really need to be covered.   I can be reached via (callsign) at repeater-builder dot com or by way of my snail mail address available at www.qrz.com.

Text and hand-coded HTML copyright © Michael R. Morris 2002 and the date of last modification

This web page, this web site, the information presented in and on its pages and in these modifications and conversions is © Copyrighted 1995 and (date of last update) by Kevin Custer W3KKC and multiple originating authors.   All Rights Reserved, including that of paper and web publication elsewhere.